The state of scholarly STM journals publishing

The STM Report: An overview of Scientific and Scholarly Journals Publishing has just been published by the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers (STM).  The report collects evidence and provides a picture of the trends and currents in scholarly communication.  It shows that scholarly communications are undergoing profound changes driven by technology and economic factors, while authors’ core motivations to publish remain stable.

Some quotations from the 68 page report:

The annual revenues generated from English-language STM journal publishing are estimated at about $8 billion in 2008, up by 6-7% compared to 2007, within a broader STM publishing market worth some $16 billion.

There were about 25,400 active scholarly peer-reviewed journals in early 2009, collectively publishing about 1.5 million articles a year.

The research community continues to see peer review as fundamental to scholarly communication and appears committed to it despite some perceived shortcomings.

Journal publishing has become more competitive with the emergence of new business models. Open access posits making original research freely accessible on the web. There are three approaches: full open access, delayed open access and self-archiving.

Roddy MacLeod
Senior Subject Librarian

Time to simplify academic referencing styles?

There’s a very interesting article in the THE entitled There are 3,000 ways to cite source material – why not make it one? by Alec Gill, an academic tutor with the Study Advice Service, University of Hull.

He writes: “It is time to change. Academic styles of referencing must be reformed, unified and simplified.” and “The reform of academic referencing styles is long overdue. A pragmatic approach is needed to declutter the Victoriana that has been inherited within our bibliographic styles.”

There’s also a full-length version of the article available on his blog which is also well worth reading.

There are various books in the Library on referencing, and slides from The Cite is Right, one of the Library Workshop seminars, are also available.  

Roddy MacLeod
Senior Subject Librarian

The Write Stuff (how to write essays and other things)

© Alaska Teacher Flickr.com

Would you like to know -

• what kind of essays get good marks?
• how to plan, develop and write a good argument?
• what to do when writer’s block hits?

Why not come along to the Write Stuff  to get some answers?  This session will cover -

• the main stages of essay writing
• how to analyse titles
• how to organise the material you collect
• what to look for when editing your drafts

The session is run by Isabelle Pottinger, Effective Learning Advisor/Academic Counsellor

The Write Stuff
Thurs 12th Februrary, 12.15-13.45
Anderson Room, Library top floor

Coffee and tea (and biscuits) provided but bring your own lunch.

More information on this and other Library lunchtime workshops

Marion Kennedy
Subject Librarian

Upcoming library workshops

BTal Flickr.com

The Cite is Right
Thursday 29th January, 12.15-13.45, Anderson Room, Library
Are you clueless about citing and referencing? Do you think it’s a lot of hassle and don’t see the point?  Do you want citing and referencing to be as easy as  . . . well  . .  citing and referencing?  Come along to this session to find out more about it, what the benefits of citing and referencing are and how it can help in avoiding PLAGIARISM. 

How to Use EndnoteWeb
Friday 30th January and Tuesday 3rd February, 12.15-13.45, Anderson Room, Library
Are you jotting down details of sources on scraps of paper that get lost? Can’t find the page numbers of that really good quote? Find out how EndnoteWeb can help you -

• collate, annotate and organise your references
• create reference lists and add citations in your text – automatically
• cite-while-you-write, saving time and effort

This session is ideal if you don’t want to spend 3 days typing up your references!

Training (for staff and PG students only) on using the desktop version of Endnote desktop is available from UICS. 

Under Pressure
Thurdsay 5th February, 12.15-13.45, Anderson Room, Library
Too much coming at you? All at the same time? Four assignments, three presentations and two lab reports? And what about that night out? And then there’s your washing to do! AARGH!  But, wait a minute. There’s no need to PANIC. Come along to this session on time management to find out how to make time to work, rest and play!  Find out how to

• plan and organise your work
• identify effective learning strategies that work for you
• work steadily through the semester and avoid cramming

This workshop is run by Isabelle Pottinger, Effective Learning Advisor  

Alaska Teacher Flickr.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Write Stuff – how to write essays and other things
Thursday 12th February, 12.15-13.45, Anderson Room, Library
Come along to this session to find out more about what kind of essay gets good marks, how to analyse titles, how to organise the material you collect and how to plan, develop and write a good argument. This session is run by Isabelle Pottinger, Effective Learning Advisor.

All workshops held in the Anderson Room, top floor of the library. Tea and coffee is provided. Bring your own lunch

Marion Kennedy
Subject Librarian

Researching and writing a dissertation

A book that I ordered, Researching and writing a dissertation: a guidebook for business students, by Colin Fisher, caught my attention.  It arrived in the library a short while ago, and is normally kept at 810.61 FIS alongside similar books on writing dissertations, reports and proposals. 

In fact, the Fisher book has already been borrowed, but if you want it, or any other book that’s on loan, you can request a copy through the Catalogue.

When a book you’ve requested has been returned to the library, we’ll let you know. 

Roddy MacLeod
Senior Subject Librarian